ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by setting the scene for the period 1807–1810, when there was a sudden renewal of controversy culminating in the production of the Bullion Report. It reviews the arguments and theoretical contributions between 1807 and August 1810. The great contrast between the situations of England in 1809 and Ireland in 1804, which King had failed to sufficiently consider, were completely lost on, or by Ricardo. He merely ornamented Lord King’s argument with alarmist rhetoric, being anxious to deliver Englishmen from the state of things under restriction “which is pregnant with evil and future ruin.” In looking at the trade statistics for the period it should be noted that the depreciation of English currency may well have accounted for a considerable proportion of the increase in nominal export values, thus hiding the extent to which the trade disruptions of 1807–1809 were felt.
